Fleshed out Sci-Fi Occults (Megathread?)

[gamedomino]

[b]Alright, look, I shouldn’t be talking about occults right now, especially in a detailed way, but I want to talk about them anyway and how they could work, because numerous reasons:[/b]

1. Sims pretty much left them out, they added them but if you couldn’t tell, compared to the supernatural occults (you know, werewolves, vampires, witches, all the lovable and more popular cliches on the sims.), they basically hardly worked on them compared to them.

2. With Open-world, this could potentially become super fun, I can imagine just exploring in outer space but it’s actually interact-able instead of some rabbit-hole.

3. The building system, is amazing, and also since House-Boats were confirmed, I can imagine something like a “House-Spaceship” which is a House, but spaceship. Building could be immensely fun and would make some absolutely stunning creations.

4. DAP (Design-A-Para) would be pretty fun with this, I have no clue (on typing this currently) on what it is, but the art-style would fit it and also alex (on his patreon, but it’s public news now since it’s on twitter, so please don’t ban me for this) has said and I quote “The goal is realistic proportions and details while still being a bit cartoony. They won’t really be low-poly”

This mean’s it would be detailed, and not low poly, so I am going to assume mid-poly in this case, and along with realisitic proportions, this could potentially make a very good character creation for both parafolk and occults (including sci-fi occults)

[b]Now you may ask, what races? (occults = races by the way)[/b]

Well for now I can see two being in the game:
1. Aliens (obviously)
2. Robots, now I don’t want them to look extremely fake, I would be okay with the art-style but please, don’t make them look fake. Sims 3 did that, and I swear they looked like huge metal toys that you bought for $100 at Toys R’ Us before it closed down.

Personally, I would be alright if they had realistic proportions (like a human) but weren’t like androids, unless you want androids, but in my opinion I think they are too close to humans kind of? probably not. The “Exo” Race from Destiny is a decent example I suppose, as if you were to look it up they have realistic proportions but they still look like, well, robots. And they seem super customize-able, but you know, in this game we wouldn’t have the realistic graphics

However let me show some examples of what I’m asking so you get the gist of it, just remember I am not literally telling the developer to make it the exact same, I’m saying that this is a decent base idea:

Also for clothing, can we have proper armor and helmets for the sci-fi stuff, and definitely we should have proper sci-fi clothing for sci-fi occults, in the sims there were barely any outfits (sims 3 robots actually technically didn’t even have any outfits at all) and I hope paralives gives them more customize-ability with it’s occults and treats it’s Sci-Fi occults fairly, unlike the sims.

Let’s head on to another topic:

[b]How would these two races work?[/b]

First off, let’s talk about the Aliens, because they’re the main thing, correct? You’ve seen them, all the easter eggs or you know, that moment a simmer everyone knows in the sims 2, when your sim is looking out on a telescope at night and then gets abducted, then when he (or she) comes back, becomes pregnant with… you know what, this is enough, lets get back on topic but:

[b]Aliens:[/b]
-Are very smart, can make very futuristic, sci-fi and also amusing inventions, a funny example could be a ray that literally propels other parafolk (or occults), obviously this may not be it but seeing as physics are already a thing in this game, this could be possible. Would be fun though, also if this is a thing, it would be nice if we could cause mischief with these?

-Have space-ships, or house space-ships, house space-ships are more expensive but, it functions as your own home essentially (or one of them if real estate is a thing in the game,) It would be very fun to make a house-spaceship and could have tons of new mechanics, I could see a strategic way to make one to make it more efficient or powerful, but let’s be honest, there probably isn’t going to be too much detail, this isn’t a sci-fi strategy, it’s a life simulator.

But it would be fun to for example actually probe other parafolk somehow, or probe objects, or if you really wanted it to be game breaking, and also before you ask no, inactive aliens or other occults that somehow have a space-ship cannot do these, because it would be really immersive breaking, but …or if you really wanted it to be game breaking, continuing my quote there, even be able to literally destroy lots with it, but lets be honest that’ll probably not be a thing, for obvious reasons. But mischief is definitely fun in these kind of games, I could also see doing like “spells” or “curses” through the beams, it doesn’t do anything but they would affect the world or lot or whatever specifically is getting beamed in a way that you choose.

-Have powers of sorts, sims 4 had a decent idea, aliens literally had pretty much mind control (you could make other sims forget memories and everything), and also they had the ability to disguise as normal parafolk. That was pretty fun to see how long they could blend in and more, it would be fun though if we had more or different powers, some examples could be tele-kinesis (could be fun you know, being able to move stuff with your mind, possibly in very mischievous ways).

[b]Speaking of inventions, I had some ideas:[/b]

-Rays and Blasters, non graphic and never will cause death to another parafolk but would either be mischievous or helpful,
it would be funny to for example have a blaster that would just instantly make parafolk fat or something silly, but not too silly. Now can townies or inactives use inventions? Yes, however they have to make them first, and only aliens could, and since this is a one world system, unless your on the sci-fi world(s) or made one yourself in the normal worlds, theres no way for them to just appear and blast your parafolk, or something. Also can we have toggle-able races set for each world? I can see normal worlds not having occults enabled.

-Futuristic Furniture that you can’t normally get through build/buy unless through cheats, it could be helpful in numerous ways, hell I could even see like a futuristic car that self-drives and everything (even though self-driving is technically already a thing).

-Space Exploration, Normal parafolk can explore space but aliens are basically the main focus on space exploration and are oriented in a way towards it, it would be fun to have space adventures and even space battles, like literal like sci-fi blasters and ray guns that destroy some sort of evil species or something (Robots could do all of that too, but let’s focus on aliens right now), this could also make for some very good lore (which this game is lacking even though its in very early development right now).

Alright enough with aliens I think I got some of the things down, in the replies people could also give ideas on aliens or robots or aliens AND robots (c’mon guys, both should get some love), lets talk about robots

[b]Robots:[/b]

First off, they are not “born” please do not refer it to that term when they are made using DAP, we could say “made” or “manufactured” or “assembled” just something that sounds more robotic instead of human-like, also it sounds super weird if you were to put “born”.

Do robots have genders? Not necessarily. It could rather be a system where you pick it’s “frame” either masculine (basically like the male body but without the part under their pants) or feminine (basically a female body but without the part or “hole” under their pants) which by the way, this was pretty awkward to explain, not going to lie. I think this is a decent idea because it’s inclusive, non-sexist and because technically robots don’t have genders, yet.

Normal parafolk and aliens along with other occults, technically can make them if they were really, really good at science stuff and invented a robot machine that made robots, then you would basically be sent to the DAP but for robots specifically, there are no “limits” on customization because theres nothing such as genetics (also they are not human) so that also means the last name doesn’t have to be the same, in-fact the names would be like robot names like “PAX 17” (I have no clue where I got that from)

[b]Robot Customization (DAP – Design-A-Para) and a Brief Idea on Powers[/b]

-Being able to change robot heads and facial features, so we have lots of customization there

-Being able to change the pattern of the robot kind of, like you could change the colors but also the pattern of the body and face on how it would look like

-It has to have clothes, for obvious reasons, it can be normal clothing or sci-fi clothing or even sci-fi armor, fit with helmets and sets of sci-fi armor.

-I can see having some sort of powers system for them too where you can pick it, and tons, since robots could do basically anything in the fictional world, such as ice beams or x-ray vision as some examples, so basically think up a super-hero power and you could apply it onto them.

-Being able to add emitting effects to them would be cool, for example if you wanted to make an edgy bad guy robot you could make the eyes glow red and have it emit some sort of lens flare effect or some smoking effect or a fire effect even, these can be as blinding and obnoxious as you want it to be but there’s a limit to prevent too much lag and performance issues, but this could also be a “just in general” feature for all races including normal parafolk.

-Now this may be too detailed but… being able to add “attachments” to them? like some sort of misc option but for robots in a way, perhaps even with powers, like for example being able to add an attachment that allows the robot to fly, it’s your call if fuel should be limited (like having to recharge or something) or just make it unlimited (no need for the hassle anyway)
-Animations should not be too robotic, don’t make them hilariously fake as if it’s a human doing “The Robot” because 1. probably rude to the actual robots and 2. These robots have realistic proportions so it would make more sense to make the animations less robotic (also less time to make them)

-Holographic tattoos? Kind of like tattoos, but they kind of go out and then they holograph the tattoo essentially which would be a bit cool if done correctly, but I’m probably asking for a bit there.

-Weapon holsters, not like literal guns but like ray-blasters like the ones you would see in a sci-fi movie like star wars, even swords if you felt like it like a set of neon knives on each side or an neon katana on the back, if it can be on one side only then it should be personally where you can put one on the left, one on the right or two on both sides in a way.

-Sliders could be exaggerated, it’s a robot, it has no limits really, you could make it very tall if you wanted to or make its head very big, and by sliders I mean absolutely every slider because it truly allows people to be creative and since they are robots, there is technically no limits, unlike other occults, since you could make them the way you absolutely want them to be.

[b]Robot Needs, Passive Powers and Life-times[/b]

-Robots would have different needs, I can see some sort of “recharging” station of the sort that would replenish the robot equivalent of a parafolks “sleep” need, there is no bladder need (for obvious reasons) and besides fun and social needs I cannot think of another need that robots would, well, need.

-Robots could be super durable, like they could survive a fire or an electric shock numerous times in a row because they are quite literally made out of metal, also if they were to fight against for example a normal parafolk, there is an almost guaranteed chance for them to win.

-Robots, have a life-time, where they are fine for basically most of its lives but it would eventually rust out and then power off, forever. Basically a robot version of death by old-age for normal parafolk. How long could a robot live for? Well, if you wanted a long gameplay, like super long, you could make it go into the thousands because robots are, like I said, super durable, meaning they can take a lot of damage and also can technically live for a super long time, but in the settings there should be an option to change the life-time for normal parafolk and occults (including robots) also for robots there should be an “immortal” option, to just make them live on forever, because it doesn’t really break the rules as robots technically don’t “decay” from the inside if you think about it.

[b]The Sci-Fi World: What should the world look like, and how would it be special apart from other worlds?[/b]

Okay so this question, first-off it’s a SCI-FI WORLD which is obvious, which means it isn’t a normal world, now I don’t know if it should be dystopian like some Cyberpunk 2077 copy or utopian (I have no clue what a utopian version would be to be honest in terms of game references, besides sims 3 utopian future, technically.)

I could see some sort of “market-place” or a “lobby center” which would be cool, basically you could buy sci-fi futuristic stuff or get services or work there, the lobby would be like the main area, the market-place perhaps could be right next to it, now if you wanted to you could say that it’s in space so you’d have to go to space to get there, but then how would people make custom worlds for that exactly?

The entire sci-fi world(s) would have that “futuristic” look, due to it being sci-fi. I could still see houses and businesses like lots but they would all look futuristic and sci-fi and everything.

[b]Awkward Question: How would romance work with the two or one of them with a different race?[/b]

Let me answer this quick, aliens would basically be the same as normal parafolk (there would be special sci-fi futuristic spots to do it in but everyone and everything else can access it)

I believe that robots could be able to do it, but there should be some of time after made before it can happen for some obvious reasons.

[b]Would this be a DLC?[/b]

Obviously, yes. This shouldn’t be in base game, and definitely not at launch.

[b]How mod-able would this be?[/b]

Aha, now for those who want to make CC or mods for the game (script mods aren’t going to be supported at launch by the way) then there would most likely be tons of ways to make CC for both races and worlds and items and just the sci-fi theme in general. For script mods its even more, but obviously its not going to be at release, so people can only hope for now.

[b]Conclusion[/b]

Well thats the conclusion and outro of all of that I have said (probably more than 1000 words) and there is a conclusion about some aspects, I am not the best with certain ones (and not the best at being specific) and if you wanted to add your own ideas then why not reply and contribute to this conversation, perhaps this could even become a megathread.

Well, have a nice day, and cheers, hope you liked reading it.

• This discussion was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by  JP.
• This discussion was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by  JP.
• This discussion was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by  gamedomino. Reason: Added one new listing and added how the "life-time" on robots would work, along with properly listing different parts of the list
• This discussion was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by  gamedomino. Reason: Clarified more on how Robot Customization could work and further properly listed things
• This discussion was modified 2 years, 1 month ago by  gamedomino. Reason: Added TWO Example Images (Face & Body) in the robot section where I explain what the art-style for them could be like (giving an idea for a potential base), I hope the images actually work, and I added a new section on how mod-able the sci-fi occults could hopefully be
• This discussion was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by  gamedomino. Reason: Changed all incorrect acronyms (Such as DAP to PAM), and changed my thoughts on one or two of the topics, and generally improved it along with adding a new poll
• This discussion was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by  JP.

[luseda1]

I could see robots having some kind of hygiene need. Sure, they don’t get sweaty but dust and such could potentially accumulate on them. Maybe a chronically low hygiene need could cause things like overheating or body parts rusting (and too much overheating or rust going untreated can kill them). I could see the hygiene need typically decreasing very slowly, though, with the exception of the robot taking part in messy tasks.

I could easily see heat being a problem for them. Powerful computers, as they are now, generate quite a bit of heat. Now imagine if they could simulate comparable memories and personality to what a human has, the sort of processing power you’d need. There’d probably be some sort of in-built cooling system so summer isn’t an automatic death sentence, but maybe it’s not perfect and being in poor repair can harm a robot’s ability to deal with the heat.

Something that might be fun is glitches, since we all know how unreliable technology can be. Minor glitches can happen randomly or because of bad things happening to a robot (overheating, electrocution, falls, immersion in water), and don’t have sweeping effects. It’s things like losing a skill point, losing friendship/romance points with someone and getting minor debuffs (for skills or moods). Minor glitches are relatively easy for someone with the robotics skill to fix. Major glitches only occur when bad things happen to a robot and have more major effects: suddenly hating everyone, being stuck in one random mood forever, losing all ability to use a random skill, losing power randomly (akin to passing out), etc. Major glitches are harder to fix. Glitches can be left in if the player chooses (maybe it’s amusing), but if too many glitches accumulate in one robot without being fixed it can kill them as their software just gets too damaged to function anymore. Maybe the hardware still works or could be repaired, but reusing the hardware wouldn’t bring back the individual.

Personally, I think robots should be immortal as long as they’re maintained. It might make sense if it gets harder and harder to maintain older robots as time goes by because of technological progression (they don’t make those outdated parts you need anymore), but that would require technological progression to be portrayed to make sense.

I don’t think it should be necessary for them to wear clothes because they don’t necessarily have anything that needs covering, but having an option to put clothes on them would be welcome (ideally, all the same options a human para has, maybe including wigs.)

I think they should be able to identify as certain genders like humans do, so some are agender but some might identify as male, female or (non-agender) nonbinary if the player wants. Perhaps on creation, the player can pick their identity, or randomize it. Or they could all start as agender regardless of physical build but as they interact with humans the player can choose to have them adopt human gender identities.

I’d like them to be able to date, woohoo and marry human parafolk (but not the specific ones who created them) and other robots. As long as they’re portrayed as sapient beings capable of consenting, I don’t see any problems with that. Sure, in some Sci-Fi universes the power dynamics would make their ability to consent questionable at best, but that doesn’t mean Paralives has to go that route. Maybe they can only have romance options after they’ve existed for a certain amount of time? The equivalent of 18 years or so to make sure they’re mentally mature, maybe? TBF it would be kind of creepy to romance a robot that has only just come into existence and doesn’t know anything about the world yet.

[gamedomino]

[quote quote=6583]I could see robots having some kind of hygiene need. Sure, they don’t get sweaty but dust and such could potentially accumulate on them. Maybe a chronically low hygiene need could cause things like overheating or body parts rusting (and too much overheating or rust going untreated can kill them). I could see the hygiene need typically decreasing very slowly, though, with the exception of the robot taking part in messy tasks.

I could easily see heat being a problem for them. Powerful computers, as they are now, generate quite a bit of heat. Now imagine if they could simulate comparable memories and personality to what a human has, the sort of processing power you’d need. There’d probably be some sort of in-built cooling system so summer isn’t an automatic death sentence, but maybe it’s not perfect and being in poor repair can harm a robot’s ability to deal with the heat.

Something that might be fun is glitches, since we all know how unreliable technology can be. Minor glitches can happen randomly or because of bad things happening to a robot (overheating, electrocution, falls, immersion in water), and don’t have sweeping effects. It’s things like losing a skill point, losing friendship/romance points with someone and getting minor debuffs (for skills or moods). Minor glitches are relatively easy for someone with the robotics skill to fix. Major glitches only occur when bad things happen to a robot and have more major effects: suddenly hating everyone, being stuck in one random mood forever, losing all ability to use a random skill, losing power randomly (akin to passing out), etc. Major glitches are harder to fix. Glitches can be left in if the player chooses (maybe it’s amusing), but if too many glitches accumulate in one robot without being fixed it can kill them as their software just gets too damaged to function anymore. Maybe the hardware still works or could be repaired, but reusing the hardware wouldn’t bring back the individual.

Personally, I think robots should be immortal as long as they’re maintained. It might make sense if it gets harder and harder to maintain older robots as time goes by because of technological progression (they don’t make those outdated parts you need anymore), but that would require technological progression to be portrayed to make sense.

I don’t think it should be necessary for them to wear clothes because they don’t necessarily have anything that needs covering, but having an option to put clothes on them would be welcome (ideally, all the same options a human para has, maybe including wigs.)

I think they should be able to identify as certain genders like humans do, so some are agender but some might identify as male, female or (non-agender) nonbinary if the player wants. Perhaps on creation, the player can pick their identity, or randomize it. Or they could all start as agender regardless of physical build but as they interact with humans the player can choose to have them adopt human gender identities.

I’d like them to be able to date, woohoo and marry human parafolk (but not the specific ones who created them) and other robots. As long as they’re portrayed as sapient beings capable of consenting, I don’t see any problems with that. Sure, in some Sci-Fi universes the power dynamics would make their ability to consent questionable at best, but that doesn’t mean Paralives has to go that route. Maybe they can only have romance options after they’ve existed for a certain amount of time? The equivalent of 18 years or so to make sure they’re mentally mature, maybe? TBF it would be kind of creepy to romance a robot that has only just come into existence and doesn’t know anything about the world yet.

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All great points, I can agree with you that there could be a hygiene need like you have said and that there could be a heat need that can add a new mechanic to the game, glitches could be a fun and I can agree with your points on dating and such etc, and for them being immortal as long as they are maintained I can agree with, thanks for the huge consideration and reply on the post.

I’ll add any extra ideas I have to the post by editing them :p

[Dizzardy]

I think it would be cool if aliens were kinda similar to Vampires in Sims 4, as in it would be really great if they had enough customization options so that you could create different alien races.

Although I think the skin color wheel will help with that somewhat, if we do get aliens I’d like to see them have some extra customization options over regular paras. I think it would be for the best if they were all bipedal, but even with that there’s a lot of possibilities. Maybe customize how many eyes or ears they have, that sort of thing.

Like a simpler version of Spore….if that simpler version of Spore only let you create bipedal aliens.

If you wanted to have quadrupedal aliens…I guess you could base them off of cats, dogs and horses. Basically use their models as another base to create alien paras.

When it comes to aliens I think I think I’d just like the chance to make them feel more alien and give them more to make them different from regular paras. I expect aliens to be weird.